Idea for a D and D campaign

[Deleted]

Hey I came up with a new D and D world basically set 3000 years into the future, keep in mind this is a universe that was reset due to an unbelievable amount of magic which resulted in killing most of the gods and resetting all intelligent life it also had the added bonus of expending all of the magic in existence leaving nothing left except the amount necessary for life. As a result this world is based entirely on technology, in this case nano tech. I'm having some trouble though and I'd like some help coming up with interesting ideas, classes, races or anything else that people might come up with. Thanks in advance

[Finarvyn]

Well, I'm not sure which game rules you intend but I'll assume OD&D since this is an OD&D board.

As far as classes go, I would think that the Thief works well. Think "Slippery Jim DiGriz, the Stainless Steel Rat" and add computer hacking type skills to the regular list. Fighters work well in pretty much any setting. Just create some "plastic plate" armor (like Stormtroopers in Star Wars) and a bunch of laser/blaster weapons that act a lot like bows or crossbows. Magic can be tricky, so you may have to decide if you want to include magic-users and/or clerics at all. Star Wars has Jedi, which are similar to clerics. If you really want a more "scifi" feel you might look at psionics rules from Eldritch Wizardry.

I mentioned weapons before, but I'll mention them again. When I do space OD&D I try to keep the basic weapon power levels similar to those of ancients games. I assume that a laser pistol does pretty much the same damage as a dagger and a laser rifle is a lot like a sword.

For other equipment, think about stuff you see in Star Wars or Star Trek. Luke has some sort of utility belt. Doctor McCoy has medical instruments. Mr Spock uses a tricorder. Many of these sorts of things worked their way into Dave's Blackmoor campaign and would fit well in most scifi settings as well.

Aliens are the hardest, as each setting has very different types. When I run scifi I start by stealing Klingons and Vulcans and Wookies and other creatures from settings I know already, then add in a few wonky ones just to make it all seem different. Focus on key monster data such as HD, AC, and damage. You can fill in most of the other stuff later.

Maybe that helps a little?

[Finarvyn]

You might also wander into the "Beyond Belief" section of the boards. Simon is working on SPACE & WIZARDRY, which is a science fiction rules set for OD&D-compatible games.

odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=beyond&action=display&thread=8552

In addition, in the science fiction section of the boards you can find threads on TERMINAL SPACE and X-PLORERS, both excellent scifi RPGs which are similar to OD&D.

Lots to look at, so enjoy!

[Finarvyn]

Yet another option is to look into EMPIRE OF THE PETAL THRONE, which is a RPG that combines magic and technology on an alien planet. There is also a section on the boards that discusses that game.

I may move this thread to the SciFi section, as it might get more views there.

[Deleted]

Well like I said earlier all of the magic is gone and as for the hacker class that was actually the first one I came up with. For future reference these are all of the classes I'm currently using, Hacker, Drone, Programmer, Sniper, Limiter, and Medic. Some of these are pretty self explanatory but I can explain more on them if you like. And I'm not really sure how to move a thread I'm kind of new to chat rooms.

[inkmeister]

Pretty sparse OP, but awesome thoughts from Fin.

I think simple is best, and so I tend to be less in favor of a lot of different classes. One of the charms of OD&D is that it is really light on that kind of stuff, so you get this wide open "everyone can do everything" kind of feel. With no magic, you don't really need classes... everyone is an adventurer. You can let people choose a sort of background like "barbarian" or "ranger" or "scientist," and these can affect your judgment calls in certain situations.

I'd mine ideas from Stars Without Number (basically B/X in space) and Gamma World/Mutant Future. Fin gave the good advice to mine popular sci-fi.

I'm not crazy about lots of sentient human like races (as in Star Trek for example). I might stick close to humans and mutants and the like, but have lots of crazy other creatures that aren't really meant for PC's and aren't really human-like. That's just my preference.

Good luck.

[Sean Michael Kelly]

I'd say "Terminal Space" may be a good reference for this as well.

You can find the digest-sized booklet PDF and a lot of supplemental resources at the author's website here:

worldofortix.blogspot.com/

I haven't run any games using it yet, but I've read through it and am looking forward to giving it a whirl.

Besides "Beholders in Space" is just too cool to ignore. :-)

[Deleted]

I was actually thinking of running a more mech based game. Although Interspace travel is still something I'm working on.

[Deleted]

Actually I was wondering you guys could help me get a decent damage system in order. I would do it myself but I'm actually still kinda new to d and d and my Dungeon Master doesn't have the time to help me come up with one.